Red Bull ‘devastated’ by trophy theft

Toby Lock

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner says the team are ‘devastated’ by the break-in and theft of 60 of the team’s trophies at their Tilbrook base this morning (Saturday).

At around 1.30am, police were called to the factory on Bradbourne Drive where a group of around six men, used a vehicle to drive through the front entrance to gain access to the premises.

Once inside, they stole over 60 trophies belonging to the Red Bull Racing team.

Night staff who were on the premises at the time were not physically harmed.

Two cars were involved in the burglary. A silver 4x4 which was used to drive through the entrance and a further dark coloured, black or dark blue Mercedes state car. Both are believed to have foreign number plates.

The trophies, which the team have collected since their inception in 2005, were on display in the foyer.

Horner said the team may have to make their usually open and accessible foyer significantly more restricted as a result of the break-in.

He said: “We are obviously devastated by this serious factory break in, which saw offenders drive a vehicle through our front entrance and steal more than 60 trophies which took years and hard work to accumulate.

“The break-in caused significant damage and was very upsetting for our night officers who were on duty at the time. The offenders took items that not only did not belong to them, but which represented the efforts of a group of dedicated, hard-working individuals.

“Beyond the aggressive nature of this break-in, we are perplexed why anyone would take these trophies. The value to the team is of course extraordinarily high due to the sheer hard work and effort that went into winning each and every one. But their intrinsic value is low; they would be of little benefit to those outside of the team and, in addition to that, many of the trophies on display were replicas.

“The actions of these men mean it’s likely that we will have to make our site less accessible in the future, which will be unfair on the hundreds of fans that travel to visit our factory each year to see our trophies and our Formula One car.

“We would like to appeal to anyone who knows any information on the whereabouts of these trophies or the offenders involved to contact Thames Valley Police.”